The present invention relates to the new and distinct hosta plant, Hosta ‘Little Jay’ discovered by Hendrik Jan van den Top at a nursery in The Netherlands. The Plant is an uninduced whole plant sport of the Hosta cultivar ‘Beauty Little Blue’ (not patented). ‘Beauty Little Blue’ is a cross of Hosta ‘Blue Cadet’ (not patented) with Hosta clausa var. normalis (not patented). The plant has been successfully asexually propagated by division and tissue culture methods at a plant nursery in Barneveld, The Netherlands and found to produce identical plants that maintain the unique characteristics of the original plant. The plant is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
Hosta ‘Little Jay’ differs from its parents, as well as all other hostas known to the applicant, in that the plant has a very narrow variegated leaf that emerges with the center pale yellow in the spring and with sunlight and warmer temperatures lightens to a white. The leaf margin is green with a slight glaucous bloom producing a slightly bluish cast.
The most similar known hosta cultivar is Hosta ‘Fireworks’ U.S. Plant Pat. Ser. No. 16,062. ‘Fireworks’ has a larger and wider leaf, does not start up as yellow in the center, and the flower is lighter lavender. 